


The Succession Ball

by CB_Magique



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AU, Ball story, F/M, Ienri, Radiant Garden, wherein BBS ended happily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2014-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-01 16:59:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2780801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CB_Magique/pseuds/CB_Magique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ienzo must make his formal debut into high society and invites Kairi along to the ball but she's unable to tell where she stands with him in this world of high fashion and high opinions. She wanders around trying to find her place in Ienzo's shining new world and starts to wonder if there's any way to not be playing mind games when it comes to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be a one-shot of about 3000-3500 words but then I got carried away and wrote 4x the amount I was intending to... so you get 4x the number of chapters! Yay for you!
> 
> This story is also set in an AU where BBS didn't end in tragedy and exists in the same continuity as the 'Paper Planes and Petals' story I've already published. Don't ask me for details about the AU, I didn't think about it too hard. I mostly just thought about how the characters would be different if BBS had been allowed to end happily and then fast-forwarded 10 years so that all the characters that I'm actually interested in shipping were already at a shippable age.

Petals flitted on the breeze like snow as one more spring came closer to an end. The warm days wilted them but they left the air heady with their perfume like a fragrant swan song. A clock entwined within a tree ticked casually towards 4 o'clock. The clock tree, a strange and enigmatic thing, ticked the time away quietly like any clock, only with a fourth arm to count moons. It stood like a stern sentry, as if it could see more than what lay in front of it. Perhaps it watched the whole town from its giant reflection on the walls of castle or maybe it observed everyone through the faces of every clock in town. Kairi barely spared it a glance, finding more peace of mind watching the branches sway and the flowers flutter. He was late again.

Huffing and footsteps caught her ear and she turned around. She giggled at the older teen as he ran up to her like he was being blown in with a hurricane. He stopped in front of her and doubled over to catch his breath. No, Ienzo was not known for being punctual.

"I was starting to think it would be dark before you got here," she teased. "And you were even the one who called this date."

He stood up and smoothed his hair down. "I apologise absolutely sincerely," he replied guiltily. "I-I was on track when I got to the train station but I accidentally missed a stop and then…"

Kairi waved a hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. Better late than never. So, is this a special date?"

"Special?" Ienzo said bemusedly.

"When you called you said that something important had come up and you needed to see me." She looked away sadly. "It's not bad, is it?"

Ienzo floundered uselessly at her downcast expression, fishing for a save. "What? N-no! Nothing bad happened, no, not at all. It's actually quite good. Very good, in fact."

He reached into one of the deep pockets of his lab coat (which he always wore, even when he wasn't in a lab) and presented her with a crisp envelope. Kairi's eyes widened. The envelope was made of a thick, dense paper with a shiny, marbled texture that felt like polished stone when she gingerly grasped it. On the front it simply had her name, carefully handwritten in elaborate cursive with shiny sapphire blue ink. She turned it over and the flap on the back was sealed with red wax stamped with the royal seal of Radiant Garden's current ruling family.

"I came to give you that," Ienzo continued when it was apparent that Kairi was going to continue to stare at it speechlessly. "It's an invitation. I would recommend that you open it in private and after you've read it remember to RSVP promptly, it's a… it's a very formal kind of thing."

Kairi nodded, looking the envelope over again to search for any clues as it what it was about. "Are you sure this isn't bad? Is Ansem the Wise sending me a reprimanding letter because he doesn't approve of a castle ward dating outside the aristocracy or something?"

"It's nothing of the sort," Ienzo assured her, a little bit exasperatedly but he understood her concern. She'd never met the king after all. "If Ansem wanted to reprimand you the court would mail you a summons and he'd do it in person."

Kairi flinched at the mere suggestion. She placed the invitation in her handbag very carefully so that it wouldn't crease and zipping it up tightly lest anyone even suspect that she was carrying something that might be extremely important. She linked arms with Ienzo and smiled.

"Thanks," she said and Ienzo couldn't help smiling in return, if only because she was being a bit too wary over her letter. "Well, it would be a total waste of a day if we didn't do something, right?"

"The day's almost over already," he pointed out.

"But we've both come all the way out here so we may as well make a proper date of it." She dragged him off to see more of the park.

* * *

Following the recommendation (perhaps a bit too zealously, once again), Kairi waited until late that night to open the envelope. Her curtains were closed and she was already dressed for bed, her parents were still pottering around downstairs, her grandmother asleep, and the only light on in her room was her lamp. She bounced onto her bed excitedly, fingers nervously teasing under the flap until the wax seal peeled off. The paper inside was just as rich in quality as the envelope but in a contrasting feathery texture, light, and thin enough to split a hair. Kairi unfolded the thirds to read the invite, written in that extremely careful cursive again, this time in black ink:

_The Royal Court of Radiant Garden_

_His Majesty King Ansem_   
_requests your attendance at the Royal Succession Ball_   
_in honour of his ward,_   
_Ienzo the Percipient_

Kairi abruptly stopped reading at that point and almost dropped the invite in shock. Ienzo was rather secretive by nature and tactical about who he shared information with and when. One day she had surreptitiously followed him home only to discover something so alarming that she jumped out of hiding right at the last moment to demand an explanation. Ienzo calmly told her that he was merely a ward of the castle. It was often too much of a hassle trying to chase down a number of individual people to get the full story of anything he said, so she let it alone at that. However, this invitation seemed to be implying that he wasn't just a ward of the castle, he was the ward of Ansem the Wise.

"Oh my gosh…" she breathed. "Ienzo is the prince… I've been dating the prince…"

And in only a few short weeks, the prince would be formally named the heir.

* * *

Of all the nights that it had to rain, the night of the ball was perhaps the worst. It was early summer but the sky had been darkened by clouds at 3 o'clock and they had let loose at about six-thirty, just before the event was to start. It was too dark to see the clouds but Kairi grimaced at the sight of the rain on her mother's car window. The invitation's requirements had been quite difficult to fill: a white tie event with a plus-one. Not that the plus-one was hard (neither of Kairi's parents or her grandmother expressed particular interest in going to the ball, so she had recruited her school friend, Marli, who had been over the moon at the mere prospect of going to such a high society party) but finding white tie calibre dresses for two girls was excruciating. Kairi didn't even know what it meant until she'd looked it up. Luckily, Kairi's grandmother was able to save the day. The old woman knew a few things from the days when these sorts of things were more common (and she had once dated a marquis. Kairi could hardly fathom that). She knew what to buy and where to look for it and most importantly how to wear it. But at this rate, all of their work preparing for this night was going to be washed out by the rain.

"Oh, don't sit there looking dismal about it," her mother said in a sternly encouraging manner. She drove into the grand front gates of the castle, parking at the curb. Kairi gulped when she realised that ahead of them were several fancy cars, vintage vehicles and even coaches. Coaches driven by horses with ribbon braided into their manes and tails and gold or silver embellishments on their harnesses. Kairi's mother looked over her shoulder to the girl in the back seat. "Marli, have a look in the boot, there might be some long cloaks there, or maybe some umbrellas. If you girls gather up your skirts and make a run for it I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Found them!" Marli chirped, lifting the cloaks over the backseat and unfolding them. "They even have hoods! Kairi, this is going to be fun. We can walk up there like the mysterious visitors, you know, that one guest – or two – who waltzes in, nobody knows who invited them or who they are but it's the mystique that captures everyone's attention and imagination." She waved the heavy fabric around herself and over her face as she spun her fantasy.

Kairi giggled at her friend's antics. "We're not fashionably late enough for that."

"Well, hurry up!" her mother admonished. "Before the rain gets heavier."

Neither girl wanted to see if the rain would get any heavier. They wrapped themselves up as much as they could while in the car. Before Kairi could open her door and make a dash for it, her mother reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. She smiled at her daughter with the kind of parental pride that was always there but swelled enormously at any of their child's special occasions. She gave Kairi a motherly goodbye kiss on the cheek.

"Kairi, you look so beautiful tonight," she sighed. "Have a wonderful time. I'll pick you girls up at ten."

"Can you make it eleven?" Marli begged.

"Yeah, please?" Kairi added.

"Alright, eleven. Now off you go."

The two girls flung their doors open and slammed them shut, making sure the hoods were up and the hems covered their dresses as they hurried alongside the garden hedges. Thankfully, the large portico at the top of the stairs provided much needed shelter. Kairi and Marli sighed in relief and lowered their hoods. At the bottom of a secondary flight of stairs leading up to the main doors proper was a desk laid with a red, velvet cloth and a stunning bouquet of blue and purple flowers. Guards were stationed at the foot of the stairs and at the doors, off to the side and sinking into the shadows with their grey uniforms. The one nearest levelled them with a suspecting glance. The girls instinctively huddled closer together at the intimidating scrutiny and the guard apparently decided their mousiness posed no threat because he looked away, returning to a more general survey.

Kairi and Marli looked around bemusedly for a moment when suddenly there was a commotion at the bottom of the stairs. Cars and carriages alike were being told to move by footmen in exquisite gilded livery, making space in the coveted place right in front of the main stairs. A spherical coach rounded the fountain pool, drawn by four white horses. The entire ensemble was glittery and golden, even in the rainy night. It parked in the vacated space and the doormen rushed to get the doors.

The first person to get out didn't look like anyone special, just a plain woman with straight brown hair, curled at the ends, in a simple green gown. She stepped aside and did some remarkable magic that made Kairi and Marli gawk in awe; a blue glow appeared over the carriage and the rain streamed over it like it was a barrier. The water on the ground suddenly leaped and rolled like a tidal wave, splashing the woman's elegant dress. It fizzled and splashed, unable to flood back as if a completely water-free zone had been established. However, the brown-haired woman was not under its protection.

An olive-skinned girl stepped out, her jewelled heels going out first like a grand gesture and stamping on the coach stair. Her great ball gown blossomed around her like a rose as she stepped onto the ground – a strapless, red dress with many layers of fabric, jewels inlaid on the hems and a bodice so tight and low that her enormous bosom looked like it was about to fall out. She strutted up the stairs like the guest of honour, keeping her prettily powdered face averted from those she deemed unworthy to look upon it with the help of her lacy fan. The woman in the green dress followed her dutifully. At the top of the stairs she stopped under the protection of the portico and shot Kairi and Marli a dirty look.

"Excuse me, girls, if you're not in a hurry would you kindly step aside?" she asked, polite in all but her tone, which was positively toxic.

"Oh, please don't let us stop you," Kairi replied nervously, even as Marli was giving that woman a defiant glare. Kairi grabbed her hand through the cloak and took a couple of steps back.

"No, further," the girl snapped. "If you keep standing in my way like that your cloaks will make my beautiful dress all wet. Go on. Get back."

She gestured at them with her red gloved hands like she was shooing away an annoying little beast. Now even Kairi was looking at her sourly as they backed away. She flounced past, her attendant's magic turning the floor around her completely hydrophobic. The drops left on the carpet leading up to the front of house practically bounced away. She approached the desk and folded her fan into the palm of her right hand with a sharp _snap_.

"Lani Treasure Leena von Garndartz," she proclaimed in a voice so loud that it was probably possible for people already inside to hear her.

"Yes, of course," the man at the desk said pleasantly, standing in her presence. She smirked and her shoulders shimmied proudly. "Your footman announced you well ahead of time. Welcome and do enjoy yourself tonight."

She tittered daintily and bounced up the rest of the steps, turning around only briefly to speak to her attendant (more like screech, that's how loud she was): "Oh, Alma, don't follow yet. I said you'd get all wet and dirty, didn't I? That's why I told you to wear that ugly thing."

The woman called Alma put the magic barrier down. Her dress was damp all over and the skirt was especially drenched and muddy from her own spell's splashback. Kairi gazed at her in sympathy, her nice hair was now bedraggled and her make-up was washing off. That dress wasn't even ugly either; it was a flattering shade of light green and even had a train. Lani snapped her fingers and one of her own footmen rushed to obey, bowing to her at respectable distance.

"You, go to the carriage and get Alma's other dress out of the trunk. Make sure it doesn't get wet!" The footman bowed a second time and left to do as he was ordered. "Is there someone around here who can show her to a place to change?"

Ignoring her shrill voice was difficult but Kairi and Marli decided to do just that. They approached the desk, shrinking a little bit when the man's gaze – despite being friendly when addressing Lani – turned hard upon seeing them.

"Yes, girls, what may I do for you?" he asked in a clipped, no-nonsense tone.

"Isn't it obvious?" Marli blurted out.

"We're here for the ball," Kairi added quickly, cutting in front of Marli so that she wouldn't say anything more. The man was already frowning at them. Kairi took the envelope out of her white clutch purse and handed it to him. "I'm Kairi and this is my plus-one, Marli. It does say on the invite that I can bring her."

The man opened the envelope and read the invitation with intense scrutiny. "Middlepoint?" he inquired and Kairi blushed at her embarrassingly peasant surname. "The privilege of bringing a plus-one is only extended to particular guests on the list. How did you acquire this invitation?"

"She was personally invited!" Marli suddenly burst out again. "A friend in the castle gave it to her. We just did what the invitation said and it's a legit invite, isn't it, Kairi?"

"Yeah, it is," Kairi agreed. Ienzo wouldn't have personally given her an invalid invite.

The man narrowed his eyes at them and folded Kairi's invitation back into its envelope to hand back to her. He checked the leather-bound book on the table in front of him, flipping through the pages of the guest list, examining each name under M.

"You're on the list," he said, with an air of disappointment. "And the conditions are as stated on your invitation. Welcome to the castle. Enjoy your night."

Kairi tucked her letter away and she and Marli dashed around the front of house and up the stairs to the front doors, eager to get away from his patronising stare. The doormen opened the front doors for them and the two girls sucked in an awestruck breath.

Whatever the entrance hall was made of, it might as well have been made of solid gold. The lights in the room gave the whole place a gilded ambience. A butler gave Kairi a tag and offered to take their cloaks. They shrugged the drab, old garments off, finally able to show off their outfits in their full glory. Kairi's one-shouldered, pearl pink dress with a long scarf over the strap took on a pearlescent quality she hadn't realised it had before seeing it in the opulent light. The little sequins along the waist and bust shone like little stars. Next to her, Marli's halter neck, teal dress complemented her dark skin harmoniously, along with the shawl that went with it. Her hair was tight in that tall bun so that it was out of the way of her dangling earrings, a set with her necklace and watch. Kairi didn't even have any holes for earrings, the only jewellery she ever thought she needed was her moonstone necklace. Not to mention her layered hair didn't even fit into a neat sort of bun so she had to settle with having it twisted at the nape of her neck.

"Wow, we're in an actual castle," Marli squealed under her breath. "Just look at that. A real crystal chandelier. And this carpet is the best thing I've ever felt under my feet." She looked down at the plush carpet, running from the front doors and up another staircase at the end of the hall. After that were the tall, open doors of the ballroom. "Give me a moment to enjoy this before my stilettos kill my feet."

Kairi could testify to that, having reluctantly strapped on her mother's nicest pair of stilettos.

"Excuse me!" an already familiar shrill boomed at them from behind. They both whipped around in surprise. It was Lani again. She was still in the hall and now Alma was following her in a different dress. It was dark green, strapless gown with a picked-up skirt and sequinned trim, still just as lovely as the first one she was wearing. "How is it that I've been impeded by you twice in ten minutes? Don't you have anything better to do than get in other people's way? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"We were invited here just as much as you were," Kairi retorted before she could hold back her tongue. "Who do you think you are?"

Lani gasped, scandalised. "I am the heir to a long line of famous adventurers, mercenaries and treasure hunters, trained accordingly, as per tradition. I am the most beautiful hunter the world has ever seen." She swished her skirts and sniffed derisively. "On second thought, I don't really care for who you are. You're obviously rabble."

"Rabble!" Marli fumed.

"Obviously?" Kairi wondered nervously.

"Of course it's obvious." Lani rolled her eyes. "Those dresses are bottom of the line. Those sequins probably aren't even made of real crystal. You've got the fashion sense of a commoner too. A redhead in a pink dress? What a faux pas! And with that lipstick? They may both be pink but the shades clash."

"Whatever. Kairi looks hot tonight, in my opinion," Marli replied sharply. "We don't need your lame advice."

"Why are you even here? How do you expect to get anyone's attention in such awful getups as those?"

"Whose attention are we trying to get?" Kairi asked, genuinely confused.

"Are you saying you don't know?" Lani gasped. Then she giggled like a love-struck schoolgirl and hid most of her face behind her fan. "Why, the prince, of course. It's a long-standing tradition of the Succession Ball. The prince can only be declared the heir once the current king deems him ready for the position of ruler, that includes being ready to marry. If he's already been betrothed, then the ball is also the event when the formal announcement is made, although in this age of communication we would have heard of an engagement long before this little shindig. But if he hasn't a future a bride, then all ladies of high standing get a personal introduction to him and if he takes a shine to someone… well, we might spend a lot of time together and get to know each other."

Her shoulders did that excited shimmy again. While she was still lost in her daydream, Alma sidled up to the two girls and said quietly but genuinely politely: "Before she gets her wits about her again, would you two please step aside? She won't let it go otherwise and as you've seen, she's a bit of a pain."

She smiled apologetically. Marli huffed but they both stepped off the carpet. Lani pranced off towards the ballroom, giggling and fanning herself. As she passed, Alma gave the girls one more glance and a relieved thank-you.

Kairi's fair skin had gone paler, especially her face. The situation she found herself in suddenly became questionable. Why exactly did Ienzo hand her an invite in the first place, let alone personally? Was he secretly engaged? Was he only planning to tell her that here, in front of an audience? Or maybe he was rejecting his betrothed in favour of her. Or maybe he was rejecting _her_. Or perhaps this was actually Ienzo's idea of a game: pit yourself against the other girls who are actually worthy of royal attention and see how you stack up. Kairi's arms were deadweight pulling at her shoulders as her body trembled.

"Come on, Kairi," Marli said, taking her by the hand and leading her back onto the carpet. "Let's just go and have fun. And then you can introduce me to this very well-connected friend of yours in the castle."

"Yeah…" Kairi said in a small voice that made Marli turn to her with concern. "I'll introduce you as soon as I find him…"

She gathered her strength and walked onwards to the ball.


	2. Chapter 2

Marli nearly swooned once she was inside the ballroom proper. She had been impressed by one crystal chandelier, this room had three. They'd entered on a balcony that ringed the entire room. In front of them two staircases curved down to the wide floor. Nobody even gave them a glance as they made their way down; it was almost like they didn't exist for now. A musical ensemble played a score to orchestrate the scene and fill the ambience. Flowers in blue and purple tastefully adorned the bannister and the pillars, which were also decorated with draping fabric, red over blue. There was a drinks table with wine glasses stacked in pyramids and professional wait staff roamed the room carrying trays laden with fancy hors d'oeuvres.

The guests of the ball were also rather exquisite individuals. There were massive dresses held up by crinolines, stiff collars and bowties, expensive jewellery and watches, there were even capes on some outfits. Women whose arms weren't otherwise covered by sleeves wore long, white gloves. Kairi and Marli were suddenly feeling underdressed. It wasn't just the fashion that was echelons above them either.

"I can't believe how many famous people there are," Marli whispered, eyes going all around the room, unable to settle on one particular thing. She pointed to a couple of old men with long, white hair and beards, wearing blue sorcerer robes and ceremonial belts. "That man over there is Merlin the Magician! And that other man – oh my gosh – is that Yen Sid? There are passages we read about him in our history class that were centuries old! That can't be possible, right? Oh, oh, and over there—" she pointed in a different direction, "—those guys are from Balamb Garden, they're wearing the uniform. Imagine being privileged enough to go to Balamb Garden for school."

Marli sighed dreamily. However, Kairi wasn't so sure that was the correct term. The students of Balamb Garden were looked upon very respectfully; the levels of their achievements were parallel to none, so naturally most people assumed that it was a very high class institution. That was only partially true, if anything Kairi had heard was to be believed. It was mostly hearsay but from the sounds of things, Balamb Garden was practically an exceedingly well-funded and glorified orphanage. The only reason she was inclined to believe this in any way was because she had once heard Ienzo mutter something along those lines.

Kairi was looking around and craning her neck for any sign of Ienzo. She wanted to just break away and search all of the places in the room where he was likely to be but Marli was dragging her by the wrist, pointing out all of the recognisable people.

"Look, look, look! There're the king and queen of Disney – do you know where that is, by any chance? They really are mice! And there are ducks and there's a dog in a suit of armour! I've never seen an Animal in person before; we should try to meet them at some point." 'Animal' being the term used for those anthropomorphic beings, as opposed to the non-capitalised version. Suddenly, Marli gasped dramatically. "Kairi!" she hissed. "It's the Keyblade Masters."

This time Kairi's head whipped around, scouting for the individuals Marli had mentioned. She froze and gawked. They were really there in their ceremonial tunics and armour, pieces of clothing that were impractical for battle and swamped their wearers with their symbolic importance so much that the people were barely recognisable. But if all of that was ignored and you just looked at their faces, it was definitely the Keyblade Masters. Terra's broadness could not be hidden under any amount of earthy brown and gold robes or armour. His severe face was sharpened with age and some short but well-groomed facial hair made him look almost a decade older. Beside him was Aqua. Marli considerately let go of Kairi's hand so that the redhead could bring both to her cheeks. Ever since she was a little girl Kairi had admired Aqua from the depths of her heart. She could never see the woman as anything less than the perfect fusion of strength and beauty. Unlike Terra, the shape of her figure was barely visible under her bulky blue and silver outfit. She had let her hair down and allowed it to fall around her face and shoulders.

Behind the Masters were the apprentices. Kairi had no idea what went on in the secret world of Keyblade Wielders but the apprentices would always shadow their masters at any formal gathering they attended. They had the embroidered tunics and belts but weren't ranked high enough to earn the pretty robes and pretend armour. Still, Ventus was smiling like a small child in his green outfit, tailing Aqua faithfully. On Terra's side was the mysterious one. Ventus had been around for a while and was only a bit younger than Terra and Aqua. Word was that he was on the cusp of achieving his mastery of the Keyblade as well. Terra's apprentice was still a teen and yet he was every bit the impressive specimen of a man that Terra was. He was tall but lean in contrast to Terra's bulk and was even fairer than Kairi, taking into account the cyan eyes and silver hair. Something about him unsettled Kairi. She wasn't sure what it was and the answer would only dawn on her later in the night: he looked to be the brooding type (it was the dark purple clothing and vision-obstructing fringe) and yet he was laughing brightly.

That's when Kairi spotted the most curious example of a human being she had ever laid eyes on. His hands, feet and blue eyes were large and badly proportioned on his gangling body, with its narrow shoulders and skinny waist. His hair stuck up at almost every angle but in the light it looked downy like duckling feathers, rather than shiny or slick like sprayed or gelled hair. His outfit was tribal, foreign and exotic. Kairi had never seen anything like it, not even in a book. Even his skin was painted with elaborate ink stains. He laughed with the Terra's silver-haired apprentice, making it clear that they were friends.

"I wonder if being good looking is a requirement of applying for Keyblade apprenticeship," Marli said in a low voice, ogling the boys and men a bit too discernibly. "Maybe you should, you know, go up there and try to get your foot in the door."

"What?" Kairi whispered.

"Go talk to Aqua. Or Terra, heck, maybe even Ventus. You always said you wanted to be a Keyblade Master. Tonight's finally your chance to talk to the actual Masters and see if you're worthy."

Kairi shook her head. "No way. I can't just go up to Aqua like that."

"But you've been idolising her practically your whole life. Now you can make something of that. She's right there."

"I can't just go up to someone who I've had a massive girl crush on for my entire life. That'll just turn out to be a mess of awkward. Besides, I'm looking for someone, remember? I should go find him."

She darted into the crowd, still blushing over the notion of approaching the Keyblade Wielders directly. Marli hurried after her, latching onto the back of her dress so that they wouldn't separate. It was a very crowded ballroom, after all. She returned to her previous activity of people-watching while Kairi kept her eyes peeled for any sign of Ienzo.

* * *

Presently, Ienzo wasn't even on the ballroom floor. He was behind closed doors in a corridor branching off the ballroom. It was an ordinary, recreational room that was now being repurposed as a dressing room for tonight. A full length mirror in the corner showed Ienzo in his full regal attire: the thick, embroidered tunic, cinched at the waist by a belt with a ceremonial sword hanging on his right hip. He swallowed nervously.

"Are you almost ready?" Even asked, looking over his shoulder. Ienzo looked at him through the mirror. He was in the traditional Radiant Garden livery, white like his lab coat, which for some reason he was still wearing.

"You don't look ready," Ienzo said, deflecting.

Even shrugged off the coat and tossed it over a chair. "I had some experiments to check on in the lab quickly."

"Ansem won't be happy to hear that you went to the lab in your livery. What if you'd gotten it dirty right before the event?"

"But I didn't. The point is, you're once again avoiding answering questions about yourself."

Ienzo sighed and blinked slowly. "I don't know if I can do this. I'm not ready to be the heir."

"That's nonsense. If Ansem thinks you're ready, you're ready. They don't call him wise for nothing."

"And they call me 'percipient'. Do most people even know what that means?" Ienzo sighed. "I'm not ready to be the heir."

"Now you're directly questioning Ansem's judgment?"

"I'm not a leader. I was comfortable living in the shadow of Ansem, the apprentices and the castle. Now I'll spend the rest of my life in the light."

Even sighed and rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the door opening again and two more visitors stepping in. Dilan and Aeleus walked in, both of them tall, square and regal in their black uniforms. Their special outfits of the night were modified versions of the guard uniforms, designed to look sharper and flashier despite being less practical. If they were here then it was safe to assume that they were off duty – captaincy of the guard was a job they undertook when they weren't required to do apprentice work with Ansem.

"Ansem is ready to begin the formal ceremony," Dilan announced in a perfunctory manner.

"All we're waiting on is the prince-to-be," Aeleus added, looking at Ienzo and smiling. "You look handsome."

Ienzo sighed, turning his back on the mirror and ambling into the middle of the room. He slumped into a chair that had once had parts of his outfit laid on its seat. "Good to know that being ugly is the least of my worries."

"You're being melodramatic," Even sneered, waving a hand dismissively. "It's not an execution, just a public entrance."

"What do I expect?" Ienzo moaned, looking up at Even imploringly. The blond shrugged.

"Don't look at me; I've never seen a Succession Ball. Ansem has been king since my earliest memory. You will be perfectly fine. Just do all of the things we rehearsed and talked about – following instructions is something you're good at, at least – and then be yourself. Nobody can go wrong when they're standing around like an oil painting."

"I know it's a long shot to ask you to suddenly grow a personality but try to be charming for the aristocrats," Dilan reminded him offhandedly. "Some of them came a very long way."

Apprehension gripped Ienzo's throat, tightening his airway. Still, he rolled his eyes as if his surrogate brother had merely annoyed him. "Yes, about that…"

A servant knocked on the still open doors, peeking around Dilan and Aeleus' lumbering forms as all eyes turned to him. "Um, Ansem is wondering if the lords are ready."

"Impatient," Even tutted, dismissing the servant after assuring him they were. "Let's get it over with."

"I can't," Ienzo muttered, clenching and unclenching his hands to rid his fingers of the chill he got thinking of the girl with the red hair.

"You have to."

"No." Ienzo gripped the edge of his chair adamantly.

Even twisted his lip, glancing at the two burlier men in the room. Dilan and Aeleus exchanged glances and smirked. Ienzo's eyes widened when they sauntered up to him and his grip tightened. They picked up the chair, one side each, as effortlessly as if the chair hadn't been occupied and carried it to the door. With a single swing they threw Ienzo onto the carpet in the corridor, getting a panicked yelp out of him.

Even stepped out, smirking in satisfaction while Dilan threw the chair back into the room and Aeleus closed the door quietly. The blond grabbed Ienzo by his collar and lifted him from the inelegant sprawl on the floor, steadying him on his feet. He straightened up the outfit and smoothed down the boy's hair with a warm, affectionate touch at odds with his usual iciness. He went over Ienzo's outfit with a lint brush he must have picked up in the room. Ienzo let out a breath and relaxed under the brotherly ministrations.

"Have a little more faith in yourself," Even said softly, putting the brush away in an inner jacket pocket, where it seemed to disappear without a trace. "If your father thinks you're ready, then believe him, you're ready."

Ienzo nodded sombrely, allowing Even to take his arm and lead him to the ballroom, flanked by Dilan and Aeleus.


	3. Chapter 3

Kairi groaned, elbows against the wall and her face in her hands. The ball had been happening for only an hour and her feet were already beginning to throb and ache. She'd looked all around the room but there was nowhere to sit down. Marli tugged on her scarf, making her turn to look.

"I asked one of the staff. They said any of the doors around the room that don't have a 'staff only' sign are free for the public to use. There's furniture in them."

"Yes," Kairi hissed, dragging herself off the wall as if she was exhausted and taking the arm Marli offered to lean on. "I can't stand these shoes anymore."

The doors were intermittently spaced around the ballroom, hard to miss despite being under the shadow of the balcony. The richness of colour in the dark red wood popped out of the pastel wallpaper around them. At the first one they came across, Kairi let go of her friend and eagerly rushed to get through the door, momentarily confused when it resisted opening just a bit.

"Oof!" someone cried out as they were knocked back into the room. Kairi gasped and covered her mouth in embarrassment, hurrying forward to lend a hand.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

The hand that accepted hers almost engulfed it completely. The peculiar boy from earlier sat up, rubbing his nose where Kairi had pushed the door into his face. "Don't worry, I'm okay. Wow, you're pretty strong." Kairi blushed and mumbled a bashful 'thanks' while she helped him up. He just grinned back, not in any way upset about the accident. "I'm Sora, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Kairi replied, glad that he was the one swiftly moving to a new topic. "I'm Kairi and this is my friend Marli."

"Hey," Marli said, wiggling her fingers at him. "Nice, uh, outfit."

Sora chuckled to cover his self-consciousness but only managed to show just how nervous that made him. "Yeah… Riku suggested I should wear it, since this is about as ceremonial as it gets on the island. We don't really have things like this so I didn't know what to expect."

"The island?" Kairi questioned, dragging Sora back into the room and sitting down on a chaise longue, sighing with relief now that her weight was off her feet. Marli sat down on the other end, trapping Sora between them.

"Don't mind that," Sora said quickly, almost cursing in his haste. "I'm… not really supposed to say… uh…"

"Is there a secret island where the Keyblade Wielders live and train?" Marli asked, leaning forward until she was almost on top of him. "Is that why we never see much of them?"

"Um…" Sora muttered, sweating a bit under the pressure. "Maybe?"

She cast a sly glance sidelong at Kairi that made the redheaded girl start blushing again. Before she could tell her not to even dare, Marli added: "Say, we saw you earlier. You were with the Keyblade Masters."

"The… oh!" Sora said, furrowing his brow in puzzlement for a moment before blinking in realisation. "You mean Terra and Aqua, right?"

"So you do know them! Are you a wielder too?" Marli asked excitedly.

"Ehe, sorry," Sora replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Not a wielder. I wasn't even invited – not even as a plus-one, initially – but Riku argued really, really hard for me until Terra gave in or something."

"So this is where you've been," a deeper, suaver voice cut in, making them all turn to the door instantly. Terra's apprentice was leaning against the frame with his hands tucked halfway into his pockets and one leg wrapped around the other. He smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "I thought I heard your voice saying my name."

"Riku," Sora said, surprised to see him.

"Mmhmm," Riku hummed, pulling himself off the doorframe and swaggering into the room. "Not a bad place to end up: sandwiched between two pretty girls."

All three of them blushed as red as Kairi's hair. "No! It's-" Sora stammered, ripping his hand out of Kairi's and jerking away from her, only to bump into Marli. He slid back with an apology on his tongue but crashed into Kairi before it came out. Again he attempted an apology while scooting away from both of them, which resulted in him falling over the back of the chaise longue with his legs sticking up comically. The girls giggled and Riku snickered.

"Pardon him," Riku said, "he's not the smoothest pebble in the river."

"Aw," Marli tittered. "He's pretty cute though. Right, Kairi?"

"Yeah," Kairi nodded. They both giggled at the way the skin on Sora's neck and ears started to flush too.

"Sorry girls, I didn't get your names."

"It's Kairi." She held a hand out for him to shake and he obliged.

"Marli." She also extended a hand and he crossed his other arm over to grab hers, shaking both while flashing a dashing smile. It got a few more laughs out of the girls.

"I'm Riku and it's a real pleasure meeting you. Anyway, I just came looking for rock-head here because the king's about to make the announcement and afterwards is the fun and games bit. So, if you'd like me to accompany you around the dance floor…"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Sora exclaimed, sitting up with a pout on his lips.

"Isn't that the important part?" Marli guessed, standing and sidling up to Riku in the hopes that he would make good on his offer.

"That's right," Kairi said, standing up quickly, eyes wide with realisation. Ienzo was being crowned heir apparent tonight so he would have to be present for his coronation at the very least. "It's basically the reason everyone's here so we'd better not miss it."

Riku made a cocky movement that consisted of jutting his chin out briefly in an approximation of a nod. He turned around with a flick of his silky hair, walking away and ignoring Marli when she tried to reach for his arm.

"Come on, Sora," he urged, sauntering out the door. Marli huffed and balled her fists at her sides, stomping after him.

Kairi stayed behind to make sure Sora was on his feet again but instead of following he loitered near the door and mussed his hair anxiously. "Are you alright?"

His body did a little startled twitch. He sure spaced off quickly there, Kairi thought.

"Yeah, I'm good," Sora said in a voice too uncertain to be reliable. "It's just… awkward being out there. People keep looking at me and sometimes they're whispering when they think I can't hear. I've never been to Radiant Garden before and I'm a little… scratch that, I'm a lot out of my depth here."

Kairi smiled sympathetically and reached over to pat his shoulder. "You're far from home." He nodded. "I can't say I know what that feels like since I've always been here but I get where you're coming from. Even though I'm a local, this place, this event, these people, they're all, let's say… out of my league."

Sora returned her smile wryly. "Then it sounds like this is a first for both of us."

"Yeah. We'll both make it through, surely."

They exited the room together and Sora easily spotted Riku's silver head in the crowd since he was so tall. He led the way through the throng of people, commenting: "So, you've never left this town?"

"Not in my whole life," she admitted. "Not even to go across the lake. There are beasts and fiends outside the town walls so it's dangerous for people who can't fight and I know my mum and dad would never let their 'precious little princess' get hurt out there no matter how badly she wants to go."

"You can't fight?"

"Sort of… no," Kairi confessed, heaving a sigh. "Growing up, Marli and I used to play this game with the other girls that we called 'warrior princess' and sometimes we went to war with the 'warrior princes' and got railed on by the cops for making a mess in the streets." Sora laughed good-naturedly. "But we haven't played that game in years – we got a bit old for that. So there, I can't fight."

"Don't give up," Sora said, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze. "That's how me and Riku first learned to fight. It's not a style or something that you can put a name on but it's still valid. Though you might be rusty now…"

Sora and Kairi laughed together. They came up behind Riku and Marli and Sora squeezed between them. "What's up? Has anything happened yet?"

"Not yet," Riku answered, looking at the recently vacated space around the grand staircases. "They just announced that the main event was coming up and got everyone to move."

"Well, don't let me get between you, boys," Marli murmured snippily, crossing her arms. Kairi nudged her shoulder-to-shoulder and the dark-skinned girl turned to her, starting a brief conversation with only their body language:

_"_ _Do you see this?"_ Marli's huffy pout asked.

_"_ _What can you do?"_ replied Kairi's shrug of pity.

The crowd jostled as someone moved through it. They tapped Kairi on the shoulder to get her attention. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "M-Master Aqua?!"

The blue haired woman smiled modestly. Kairi just gawked and ruminated over words that tumbled over each other before even making it to her mouth.

"Sorry to bother you," Aqua said, "but you looked very familiar to me. I just wanted to see if you were who I thought you were."

"M-maybe…" Kairi stuttered and her heart pumped with a swirl of joy, excitement and hope. Many years ago on a day Kairi would never forget she had met Aqua, not knowing the significance of the encounter. The ferocious strength of her attack, the brilliant grace of her magic and the warm kindness of her smile painted a saintly picture of her in Kairi's memory. Ever since then her chances to see the woman were rare, few and far between, always at a distance and never quite as dramatic as that time. "I was really small…"

"That's right, I remember," Aqua began but when she looked down for a moment in thought she cut herself off. "Isn't this…?"

She tapped the moonstone. A little twinkle of magic sparkled in response to the hand that had charmed it long ago.

"That's my spell!" Aqua exclaimed, smiling sheepishly at the other people who turned to her outburst with disapproving glares. "Sorry… but that's my spell. You are the girl I was thinking of – Kairi, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Kairi breathed and it was as if her heart had grown wings and learned to fly.

"I've wanted to meet you again for a while, ever since Terra brought Riku to us. Do you remember what happened that day we met?"

"I can't forget."

"But specifically do you remember touching my Keyblade?"

"Touching…" Kairi looked at the floor thoughtfully. That wasn't something that really stuck out in the memory. There had been little blue monsters and a teleporting mouse and a bright flash of light that appeared when Kairi reached for Aqua's hand, the one that was holding the Keyblade. "It must have happened then…"

"So you remember? I'm glad. It's been more than ten years since then but I still think about it. That reaction from the Keyblade, I'm pretty sure it's not normal. The Keyblade responded to your heart in a special way and I want to find out what that means."

"Why didn't you come to me earlier?" Kairi blurted out, stunned by the revelation. "It can't be an age thing; Riku doesn't look much older than me. I would have gone with you in a heartbeat. Being a Keyblade Wielder, a guardian of the world, that's the sort of thing I've always wanted to be. And if there's something special about me that the Keyblade could sense then I want to know what that is too."

"Riku's case is different," Aqua said and the amiable expression fell to be replaced with something grimmer. "Terra was more direct and I don't know that I approve of what he did. We have a code to stop us from interfering with outside affairs and I'm not sure if taking Riku on was permissible but either way, Riku ran away from home to join us. He keeps saying that being with us and doing what we do is what he always wanted out of life. I think I can't really argue if it makes him that happy. But the reason I didn't recruit you is because every time I came to see you… I couldn't do it. Your life here is beautiful. You have friends and family who love you and you're all happy together; I wouldn't forgive myself if I ruined that.

"The thing about the Keyblade is that it has the power to unlock all the doors you might cross but some of them lead to pain and sorrow, some of them lead to horror, and some of them even lead to the deepest levels of darkness. There's a lot you could lose from choosing to follow this path. You have the kind of life that I lost forever many years ago so I decided that I wouldn't take you away from it, not unless you truly wanted it."

"Believe me, I want it."

Trumpets blasted at the top of the stairs and a handsome butler formally addressed the crowd to introduce the king.

"This isn't really the place to be talking about it," Aqua said, searching for a way to move back through the crowd, probably to find Terra. "But I'll think about what you said and come see you sometime in the future."

She gave Kairi one last mysterious smile and then was gone in what had to be a trick of the light. Or magic. Kairi blinked and tried to shake some of the mesmerisation out of her head. Marli gently elbowed her in the arm.

"Hey, where are you looking? It's starting."

"R-right," Kairi said, turning to face the front. She craned her neck to see over the shoulders of the people in front of her. "Did you hear any of that?"

"What?"

Before Kairi could reply an eerie hush fell over the ballroom. Her full attention fixed on the top of the stairs, where the king of Radiant Garden stood with his hands behind his back and his shoulders squared, dressed in his most elaborate robes in regal red. He was also wearing the crown of Radiant Garden on his brow, a feature worth noting since nobody had seen the crown in public for decades. Two large men in black flanked the stairs like statue guards as Ansem the Wise delivered his formal address to the invitees – a boring, perfunctory speech that was both a welcome and a sort of interim report on how the kingdom was doing while he was in charge. However, Kairi wasn't listening; she was searching the balcony for any sign of Ienzo.

At the end of the introductory speech the guardsmen moved and opened the grand doors behind the king. An audible intake of breath swept through the crowd as they looked up in awe at the heir-to-be gradually moving out of the shadows and taking his place on the king's right. His gaze darted over the crowd nervously. Standing next to Ansem made him seem shorter and thinner than he really was and in hyperconsciousness of the fact he locked his fingers and began to twiddle his thumbs.

"Don't fidget!" Even hissed behind him.

Ienzo abruptly stopped and pulled his hands behind his back, lifting his posture to try emulating Ansem the Wise. Unconsciously, he continued the fidgeting. Even took his place behind Ansem on the other side, carrying a black velvet box. The king looked to either side of him as if to check for himself that everything was in order before turning back to looking down at the crowd and announcing in a powerful voice that filled the silence:

"Eras come and go, sliding through time with unpredictable inevitability and people continue their lives. Even the greatest king must one day relinquish the throne and it is always hoped that when that day comes it will be met with resolve and that the one who steps up to claim the crown is worthy of the burden. My fellows, I am not getting any younger but if I could find a way to do so I would most certainly like to." He paused with an upward quirk of his lips to let the crowd chuckle. "However, even if I could, my retirement is an inevitable change and a necessary one. Worlds change, people change, and it is a fact that we cannot deny or erase. So to keep up with the tide of life, crowns must change heads too. Tonight, I present to you: Ienzo the Percipient."

Ienzo cringed at the epitaph but twisted it into a smile as the crowd clapped politely.

"Ever since he came into my custody Ienzo has been a fine son to me and it is my judgement that he will also be a fine prince to one day become king. He is a man of knowledge like all of my apprentices are but I perceive him to be much more, not only sharp of wit but sensitive of soul. Careful and mindful of everything, even the things that seem unimportant to others." Kairi swore Ansem's eyes landed on her and Marli as he said that and lingered meaningfully. She tried to shrink back into the crowd. "The duty of a king is one of burden – a burden of the heart. Who better to bear it than someone who appreciates how difficult those burdens are to carry?

"Ienzo embodies the virtue of patience and understands the properties of ambition. Under my hand and the hands of those whose abilities serve me I have watched him grow from a child of the vale into a man of the world. And so it is that on this night I declare the rightful heir to my throne and title."

The king turned to Even, who opened the velvet box delicately with gloved hands. Inside was an old silver diadem, a closed circlet like a miniature crown. Ansem picked it up, making a show of turning to his other side to pass it to Ienzo. He bowed and let Ansem place the diadem upon his head. It was a lot heavier than it looked. Perhaps that was symbolic somehow.

Once it was secure Ienzo lifted his head, surprised to find Ansem still looking at him with a complex expression. He was old and weary but also smiling with pride and hope.

"You are a fine son and a fine scientist," he said, still loud enough to be heard across the quiet ballroom but in a softer register, more intimate as if this was supposed to be a private moment, shared between a father and son. "I know that you will apply yourself just as wholly to the role of a prince and later to the role of a king."

Ansem held out his hand, inviting Ienzo to take it. He led his new heir down the steps towards the people amidst a chorus of applause. The crowd was drawing in as people began to line up before the red carpet of the stairs. Ansem and Ienzo bowed politely to them and the greetings began.

Judging by the way the crowd was now murmuring and moving, the moment was well and truly over. Kairi rubbed her hands together, looking over to where Ienzo was currently occupied in short conversations with rich and important-looking people. She noted, with a heavy heart, that many of those who had lined up were young, beautiful people accompanied by either their parents or their attendants. She even spotted Lani in the line, doing some last-minute preening and adjusting her bodice to make her breasts stick out more.

The ensemble began to play again, this time with a livelier piece that filled the room with energy. People were already beginning to take advantage of the space being made by the crowd moving to the sides of the room.

"So, it's the fun and games part," Riku piped up, turning to the girls with a winning smile. Marli raised an eyebrow at him, having not at all forgiven him for blowing her off earlier.

"Seems so," she muttered, then leaned over Riku and grabbed a different boy. "Sora, let's dance!"

"Er, okay," he said, stumbling over his huge feet as she dragged him out to the dance floor, "but I don't know how to do the dance everyone around here is doing."

Riku watched them go, a little surprised. He chuckled and rubbed his chin remorsefully, looking down at his feet. Kairi's lips quirked upon seeing that. At least he was self-reflective of how much of a jerk he could be. He looked up and turned to Kairi with a twinkling in his eyes and a more genuine smile.

"So, Miss Kairi…" he began, facing her properly and bowing like a gentleman. "Would you mind if I had the first dance?"

Kairi looked over to Ienzo. He was still preoccupied with the aristocrats, not even sparing a glance towards the goings on beyond them. She sighed and turned back to Riku, taking the arm he offered to lead her to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think it bears mentioning that even though I didn't think too hard about how BBS could have ended happily, I did think really comprehensively about what the repercussions would be. One of those was that Kingdom Hearts essentially would not have happened. Thinking about how the characters would have all grown up differently is partly why this story blew out of proportion so badly. It also means that some characters who went on amazing character development arcs in the games didn't get to go on those arcs. So, Sora wouldn't have had the chance to step up to the challenge of saving the universe, which is why he's retained and in fact hunkered down into the subdued role of second fiddle to Riku, which he originally had at the beginning of KH1. Also, Riku wouldn't have gone on his journey through the darkness that taught him just what a bad idea it is to be an overconfident jerk, so he's still a jerk.


	4. Chapter 4

Kairi had spared Riku one dance but hadn't the spirit for any more. She found a bench with a firm cushion and sat down, nursing the same glass of grape juice for an hour until a waiter came to take the empty glass. The ball carried on without her; Riku merely found a different random girl to dance with (it seemed that he was making a conscious effort to dance with all of them before the night was over). After only a couple of dances Marli and Sora had called it quits for the moment and disappeared from Kairi's view.

The seat cushion dipped as someone sat down beside her. She glanced at them, expecting that she would barely need to acknowledge their presence but her eyes widened and she did a double-take. Sitting beside her, straight-backed and powerful even at rest, was Terra. He looked at her, amused by her gawking.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

"No, not at all," Kairi replied quickly, turning to face the ballroom with flushed cheeks.

Terra nodded and an awkward silence settled between them. Eventually Terra cleared his throat and made an attempt at conversation: "I noticed you shared the first dance with my apprentice."

"Riku? Yeah," Kairi said listlessly and before she could hold it in she blurted out: "What's up with him?"

Terra chuckled. "Riku's very free-spirited but he doesn't always know the correct way to direct himself. He's a lot like me in my younger days, actually. The moment I met him I recognised that. It was part of the reason why I decided to apprentice him."

"Aqua said…" Kairi started, glancing at Terra ambivalently. There was something unusual about this sudden drive towards conversation. "Aqua told me earlier that what you did might be wrong."

Terra nodded sagely. "Yes, it may yet turn out that way and I know what Aqua thinks of my decision but it's because he's so much like me that giving him the Keyblade was important. It may not seem like it from where you're standing but Riku has a big heart with even bigger potential. However, he is also naïve and feckless. He needs guidance or he might be too easily swayed towards a path of self-destruction, intentional or not."

Kairi nodded wordlessly, searching the crowd for Riku again only to find him at the very edge without a dance partner. He was standing beside his good friend, Sora, yet they weren't happily laughing together like before. In fact, they seemed to be bickering.

"I know what Aqua spoke to you about tonight." There it was. This is what Kairi had suspected he was leading up to. "I don't want to encourage or discourage you, just let you know that you have a choice and you should make it carefully."

"You didn't give Riku much of a choice," she pointed out quietly. Not that Riku was complaining from what she'd heard.

"I just explained Riku's case to you, but you're different. Some people have a stronger internal light and it's harder for them to lose sight of their ideal path."

"I won't lose sight of it," Kairi assured him flatly.

Terra's lips quirked into a wry smile. "I sincerely hope not. But assurances of the future, no matter how much conviction is put into them, are unreliable at best. It's only in the final hour that people's true colours are revealed."

The words got stuck in Kairi's heart, weighted with significance that her mind scrambled to decipher. However, before she could make any conclusions their conversation (which was already on the wind up anyhow) was politely interrupted and Kairi looked up, startled. She hadn't seen or heard him approach.

"Pardon me, Master Terra," Ienzo said, letting that hang in the air.

Kairi immediately sprang to her feet. So many words and sentences fought to be spoken and the result was that none were. She stared at Ienzo and he looked back at her, giving her a small smile. Terra rose slower.

"Ah, the new heir. What an honour to be graced with your presence." He showed it with a respectful half-bow.

"I missed you earlier," Ienzo conversed. "Master Aqua was pleasantly accommodating, though. I take it she's the speaker of your crew."

"She has a way with words that I certainly don't," Terra quipped. "Queues aren't really my thing anyway."

Ienzo almost laughed. "Perhaps I'll be able to take an audience with you next time."

"Maybe," Terra shrugged. He sauntered off, flashing one last smirk over his shoulder.

Kairi and Ienzo watched him leave. Neither of them spoke until he was gone and it was Ienzo who broke the silence first.

"They're mysterious."

Kairi looked at him nonplussed, unable to tell if he was talking to her or just to himself.

"I think he's testing me," Ienzo continued, unperturbed by her silence. "The Keyblade Wielders sometimes act with disregard or even contempt for authority while moving fluidly throughout world as if they belonged to all milieus. I wonder if that's how they're chosen or if this is part of the duty they perform. It's a pity they're not forthcoming about themselves or their world… if they do have a different world."

With a start it occurred to Kairi that throughout her life she had been privy to much more information about the Keyblade Wielders than it was typically anyone's business to know. She had a sudden information advantage over Ienzo but before she could figure out what to do with it he turned to her with a sheepish expression that was so adorable that it stopped all of her thoughts in their tracks.

"Never mind that for now, though. I specifically came here to speak to you. Do you mind if we go somewhere private?"

She nodded and he held his arm out for her to loop hers around. Ienzo walked her back to the stairs yet curiously nobody stopped them. Surely everyone would have wanted to chat with (and curry favour with) the new heir but no one even glanced their way. It was when Ienzo accidentally bumped someone and the man turned to them with confusion that Kairi guessed Ienzo was using some sort of magic to make them invisible to people. Yet another item on a long and fast-growing list of odd surprises she'd learnt about him recently.

The great doors had been left open for people to come or leave as they pleased and the two large men were still posted at both sides. Kairi looked at each of them warily. The larger, brown-haired man didn't seem to notice them but the man with black dreadlocks glared at them discerningly. Ienzo made some kind of gesture, it must have been a code he frequently used because the guard rolled his eyes and heaved his shoulders as if he was sighing, reluctantly turning a blind eye.

Once they were in the corridor there was no extra security since most of the guards were stationed around the ball. Ienzo took Kairi to a room that she didn't understand the purpose of. Two opposing walls were filled with shelves – one of which even incorporated a bureau – as if this was supposed to be a library but the space was bare save for a pedal harp and the cushioned seat nestled in the bay window. The curtains in front of the great windows of the ballroom had been drawn shut but here the windows were tied back and with dismay Kairi noted that it was still raining outside. There were no lights on but there was light coming in from the window. She crossed the room and sat down in the window seat looking over an exquisite garden of trimmed hedges and flowering bushes. Lamps placed throughout it were alight even though the garden was currently empty. The door clicked softly when Ienzo closed it but he didn't turn on the lights inside.

"I would ask if you were enjoying the ball," he said gently, filling the room warmly with his voice, "but judging by your melancholy right now I believe there's something on your mind."

"Why did you invite me here?"

She turned away from the garden and got up, moving towards the harp. Ienzo came to stand beside it, watching her stroke and strum the strings curiously.

"Why do you believe I invited you?"

"I don't know," she grumbled, brow furrowing in frustration.

"You don't know or you don't want to believe it?"

"Ienzo, I don't want to play games with you right now," Kairi snapped, glaring at him, "because honestly, I don't know where I stand with you right now."

"You stand where you've always stood with me."

"Which I guess is why you didn't tell me that part of this stupid party was for you to choose a fiancée!" Ienzo put a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. "What the hell?!"

She tried to stomp past him but he put an arm out to stop her. "That's not a part of this event at all although I understand why some confusion might have arisen."

"Then start explaining." Kairi crossed her arms tightly.

"This ball is a part of my formal introduction to the society as the heir apparent. Traditionally, it also means that any fiancée I may have would also need to be introduced but I figured it was too soon to be advertising our relationship as such. The line I had to speak with were dignitaries and representatives from a variety of places – courts, countries, families of note, or even other worlds – and their task is generally to report back so that the bodies of authority they represent can determine whether I have their approval or not. Apparently, since this event doesn't come around very often for obvious reasons, they often send newbies to this sort of thing as a kind of test for them but dignitaries are sometimes wily and will introduce an accompanying marriageable child or send such a child as their representative as a way of getting royal attention and hopefully interesting the heir in choosing a fiancée. As you can imagine, marrying the monarch raises a family's social standing considerably. However, that sort of behaviour isn't especially common, the only reason I can think for why the courting was so aggressive is-"

"Ansem didn't marry," Kairi finished for him. "And he didn't have kids, not even illegitimate ones, to our knowledge. You're the closest he has to an actual prince because you're his ward."

Ienzo nodded. "For reasons of wanting to inject royal genes back into the royal line or for wanting confidence and security in the future of the royal family in the coming generations or for whatever other reasons, the world's aristocracy is eager to see me betrothed."

"Okay…" Kairi muttered, turning to the harp and running her fingers down all of the strings. "And where do I come into this story?"

"Would you believe that the primary reason why I invited you was because I just wanted you to see it?"

"See what?"

"The event. I wanted you to be there and watching when Ansem named me the heir. I was really anxious about… I kind of still am but it's a really important part of my life and you're really important to me, so I wanted you to be there to witness it."

Kairi snorted trying to hold back her hysterical giggles but they burst forth in a torrent. Ienzo raised his visible eyebrow and waited for the tide to subside but it was taking a while and in the end Kairi resorted to speaking through her sniggers.

"All this time… all this time I was freaking out and… and trying to f-figure out… but there was no game!" She looked at him as if he had transformed before her very eyes. "Here I was beginning to think that almost everything was an information game with you but you just… you just wanted me here."

Her eyes were starting to tear up. She dabbed at them with her fingers. That mascara and eyeliner better be as waterproof as they claimed to be. Ienzo wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and letting her head rest against his shoulder.

"You need to seriously work on your communication. It's not good to keep secrets from people you claim are important to you."

"My apologies, but in my defence it was really a secret affair."

"Meaning…?"

"You technically weren't invited. I had to pull a few strings behind others' backs to get you on the guest list and to get an invitation written for you. Why do you think I handed it to you in person rather than let it get mailed with all of the others?"

"Okay… so, then, why didn't you at least tell me you were the prince instead of making me believe that 'ward of the castle' nonsense for so long?"

"Ah, that was a little selfish of me, yes," Ienzo admitted, pressing his cheek against her head. "Technically I wasn't a prince; I wasn't officially recognised as such until tonight since I have no direct connection to Ansem's lineage. But that's not a good excuse is it? It's just…" Ienzo sighed deeply. "I think this is going to sound dumb but I remember some of the work Dilan used to do with psychology students about the effect of social status on relationships and so I was always suspicious of my own relationships with anybody outside of Ansem's apprentice circle, especially since everybody I met always knew of me before I had even heard of them. But when I met you it was the first time that I had a chance to meet someone who I didn't know and who didn't know me in return. We were perfect strangers. I felt like we had been on equal footing ever since then and it was all about you and me and nothing else. I liked it. I really liked it."

Kairi giggled, this time more happily and playfully. "Funny that I felt a little bit differently, since you were always so evasive about things." Ienzo at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. She put her arms over his shoulders and looked up to be nose-to-nose with him. "It doesn't sound dumb. But it turns out that I actually have a really thoughtful and sensitive boyfriend who's very sneaky on my behalf. I think I've acquired a very dangerous weapon at my disposal."

"No girl should ever be allowed to wield such power," Ienzo played along, closing the distance between their lips gradually. "But I'll allow it."

Their lips met in a kiss that was slow and sweet yet chaste, sticky with lipstick and backed by the chorus of raindrops outside. Everything else was so far away from them; they couldn't even faintly hear the music from the ball. As they parted Kairi chuckled at the colour staining Ienzo's lips.

"You should probably wipe that off before you go back there," she teased.

He smiled and stole another kiss before going over to the bureau to find a tissue. While he did that Kairi's fingers wandered up and down the strings of the harp again.

"Do you play?" Ienzo asked across the room, dabbing Kairi's lipstick off until he couldn't wipe away any more.

"No. My parents said musical instruments were too expensive. The only instruments I played were the ones I got to try at school."

Ienzo tossed the tissue in a waste paper bin hidden discretely under the bureau. He went back to the instrument in the middle of the room and sat down at the stool, pulling it closer to himself and getting adjusted. Kairi stepped back from it to give him space as he placed his fingers beside the strings and began to play a rhapsody. The strings weaved a tapestry of notes like a stream, bubbling up from a spring in the mountains and making its way down the slope, running over rocks and between trees, meandering through a valley and then spilling into a great lake full of magic and with a shining town floating in the middle.

Kairi sat down on the window seat again, watching Ienzo's fingers work the strings. At some point her gaze wandered back out to the garden and the steady veil of rain falling over it. She settled back, alternately watching Ienzo play and observing the empty garden. Everything was at peace again.

The last notes rung through the air when Ienzo had finally finished playing. They stayed seated where they were companionably. Ienzo was the first to rise, reminding them that he actually had an official role in the event. They went arm-in-arm back to the ballroom, pausing just before reaching it.

"Why don't you tidy up your make-up?" Ienzo suggested, facing Kairi. She raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that just a ruse for 'I think we should enter the ballroom separately'?"

"You understand me so well; I think we'll do fine."

Kairi laughed dryly. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing anyway."

She was about to step away but Ienzo held her hand tightly. She looked back at him curiously. "Kairi, I know this is hard to understand, not necessarily intellectually but on an emotional level, that I have to appear regal now and that might mean playing nice with people who obviously have ulterior motives. I'm going to be mingling and dancing with a lot of other people but I'll save my last dance for you if you save yours for me."

Kairi couldn't help but smile as she gave him another small kiss on the lips. They parted ways in the corridor, Kairi headed to a bathroom while he went straight back to the ballroom, attempting to pass the guard as if nothing had happened but Dilan stopped him with a hand on his arm. Ienzo raised a challenging eyebrow. Across the doorway, Aeleus regarded them bemusedly.

"Your lips look a little pink," Dilan murmured accusingly.

Ienzo was taken aback but recovered quickly with a smirk, replying cheekily: "I just felt the need to freshen up a bit."

He brushed past and Dilan couldn't keep him, new rank and all. At the bottom of the stairs, a girl in a flamboyant red dress bounced up to him, loudly demanding his attention despite the futile efforts of her attendant in green to hold her back. Hiding a long-suffering sigh behind a congenial smile, Ienzo bowed and held a hand out for hers to kiss. He would humour her for one dance and that was all.

* * *

Kairi was starting to get a little drowsy and hadn't kept an eye on the time. She was still waiting on Ienzo to make good on his promise and in the meantime had filled the hours idly. Sora sat by her for a little while, having a conversation but he didn't have Marli with him, making Kairi worry for where she could be. However, Sora eventually got dragged away by some young noblemen who considered themselves worldly and educated, looking to solicit details about his home island and culture. Kairi didn't think they'd have much luck – Sora wasn't very forthcoming about that information. She did get to dance around the ballroom again a few times, twice with some boys who were quite direct with stating their advances and once with a girl who insisted on them dancing with their arms wrapped around each other very intimately just so that her mother would stop trying to convince her to "come on to the prince".

Somehow, Kairi had ended up in the peculiar position of being sandwiched between a talking mouse and a talking duck on a bench. Unlike Sora they were more than happy to confer with some specifics about the world they lived on, which was apparently full of other Animals like them while being utterly devoid of humans. She got sucked into the discussion of how strange it must be for Animals to walk among humans while trying to consider what it would be like to take a trip to the world of Disney. Until someone cleared their throat. Kairi looked up, startled.

"Prince Ienzo, good evening," the mouse – who Kairi now knew as Minnie – said, holding out her ring hand. Ienzo knelt down to her level to kiss the jewel. She was a queen and therefore had the right to demand such respect, after all. "Congratulations on your… ah, I'm not sure what to call it, actually. We don't have such a custom in Disney World."

"I am being named heir, that is all there is to it," Ienzo replied.

"Seems s- _hic!_ -silly to me," the duck, Daisy, remarked forgetting her manners now that she was on her umpteenth champagne flute. "What if… what if something happened an-and you couldn't be the - _hic!_ \- the prince anymore?"

"I'm afraid in that case the succession process will simply have to begin again," Ienzo answered earnestly, despite her state. "It isn't without precedent: Rylan the Jolly ran a separate ball for each of his three children before anyone was confident and content that the new heir would be a reliable successor. However, that speaks more to his stubbornness in the face of advice and unpreparedness more than anything."

The ladies laughed in good humour.

"Nonetheless, it's quite a grand ball; a very awe-inspiring event," Minnie said. "You're staying to the end of it, aren't you?"

"Unfortunately, I plan to retire soon. There are still the public formalities that I need to attend to tomorrow and I wouldn't want to be out of sorts. However, before I go, I would request a dance from this young lady."

Kairi took his hand and allowed him to pull her out of her seat. He said a polite farewell to the Animals and led her into the middle of the ballroom. The crowd had already thinned significantly and the ensemble was playing slowly to wind things down. They both put an arm around each other and Kairi let Ienzo lead her around the floor in the flow of direction.

It was late and Kairi was already too tired to dance properly. Her fingers intertwined with Ienzo's and she leaned forwards to rest her chin on his shoulder, observing the ballroom from there. With a grin she noticed Terra and Aqua dancing very close. King Mickey brought his queen out for a final dance too, while Daisy was dragging her partner around with a great fuss. Kairi laughed. They were making more of a scene than necessary and getting their feathers all over the floor. Ienzo turned and Kairi's vision panned the room until her stare fell upon something that made her jaw drop.

"I _knew_ something was up with them!" Marli hissed in her ear. She turned to her in surprise.

"Marli!"

Her friend winked, currently draped over the arm and shoulder of an awkward-looking Ventus, who was glancing at his fellow apprentice across the floor. Kairi also went back to observing Riku, dancing slowly with Sora, arms around his waist. Their bodies were almost pressed flush against each other and their foreheads were touching as they slowly – almost sleepily – rotated in movements that vaguely resembled partner dancing. Their heads tilted slightly and it seemed that they had moved closer. All doubt about what had happened flew from Kairi's mind when a woman passing the couple gasped. She blushed from the ruffled collar of her neck to her hairline and hurried away, one gloved hand over her mouth.

Kairi cuddled closer to Ienzo. He kept taking her around at such a relaxing pace that she began to feel drowsy. Upon passing Marli happily enthralled in the steps with Ventus and noticing the time on her little silver watch the tiredness fled from Kairi's eyes.

"Uh oh!" she gasped, tearing herself out of Ienzo's embrace and grabbing Marli's wrist, to her annoyance. Kairi lifted her watch arm so the face was more visible. "It's almost midnight! We said we'd be ready for mum to pick us up nearly an hour ago!"

Marli's eyes widened.

"It's okay if you have to go," Ventus said with a tender smile. "I'll come and visit you sometime."

Marli flashed him a coquettish smile and gave him a peck on the cheek as a goodbye. Kairi turned to Ienzo apologetically.

"Sorry to cut this short."

"Not at all. Every moment I got to spend with you had been the highlight of my night."

Mindful of the people around them, Ienzo merely stepped back and kissed the back of her hand politely. Kairi would have been happy to leave with such a gentlemanly gesture but the sight of the ostentatious red dress in her periphery gave her a new idea. When Ienzo straightened up she darted in to steal one last kiss. She was gone just as quickly, running towards the stairs after Marli as fast as she could on her heels. She turned to give the ballroom one last glance at the bottom of the stairs, satisfied with the scandalised reactions on the faces of the other patrons who had witnessed her bold move. The look on Lani's face was absolutely apoplectic.

Ienzo was smirking in good humour and offered a small wave, which she returned almost shyly. At Marli's insistent tug, she turned to continue up the stairs. With any luck they'd get to the front doors before Kairi's mother started to burn the castle down.

 

**THE END**


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